Automatic fire-alarm system



' (No Model.)

J. YOUNG. AUTOMATIG FIRE ALARM SYSTEM. Non 381,896. Patented Apr. 24, 1888. r

13am enter UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN YOUNG, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

AUTOMATIC FIRE-ALARM SYSTEM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 381,896, dated April 24-, 1888.

Application filed April 28, 1884. Serial No. 129,666. (No model.)

I 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN YOUNG, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Fire-Alarm Systems, of'which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact de scription, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawing, forming apart of this specification.

It is common in cities to connect different buildings with a central office by means of electric circuits and apparatus so arranged that in case of fire in any building the circuit will be automatically closed by the heat, so as to give a signal at the central station which indicates the location of the fire.

My invention herein described relates to these fire-alarm systems; and it consists in the combination hereinafter claimed.

My invention is illustrated in the accom; panying drawing, which is a'diagrammatic view.

The central station, A, is connected with the difi erent buildings B O D E F by normallyopen fire-alarm circuits. Buildings B O are shown connected with circuit a, building D with circuit 1), and buildings Eand F with circuit 0. These circuits are normally open and are provided with switches d, e, f, g, h, and 2', so that any building may be cutoff from the system or connected from one branch of the system to another, as may be desired.

As shown at building D, an annunciator, G, may be placed in any convenient position upon the building and provided with a number or indicator for each room, floor, or section thereof.

An automatic fire-alarm box, H, preferably of the form shown in my application No. 122,659, filed March 1, 1884, is included in the circuit of the building, as shown. This box is so constructed that if the circuit is closed at any of the thermostats 1 2 3 4.5 a specific signal will be sent and registered at the central office. The normal1y-opeu groundcircuit K is connected with one side of each of the thermostats. The branch Z of the signalcircuit is connected with the other sides or terminals of the thermostats. The relay, which the patrol-station, as shown.

is preferably of about five hundred ohms resistauce, is placed in the branch Z back of the thermostats. By means of the key 11. the circuit may be closed through the relay for testing, and since the resistance of the said relay or sounder is very high the other apparatus in the circuit will not be disturbed by closing the circuit through the sounder. If the circuit is complete the armature-of the sounder will be attracted when the key is closed. I am thus enabled to test out the different circuits of a building, while the normal connections re main undisturbed, without sending in signals.

In case of a fire it may be necessary to disconnect a building from the system. This is accomplished by the switches 61 e f g h 2'. Thus by opening the switch 6 and closing the switch f building 0 may be readily disconnected from line a and connected to line b.

I will now describe the apparatus at the central office more in detail.

The switches O O O are placed, respectively, in the lines a b c, and are used for connecting said lines with the testing-battery p, which is provided at the central office. Thus, suppose trouble be found upon the circuit a. The repairer, by changing switch 0, disconnects the circuit a from the central-office signal apparatus, and makes a new connection with testing-batteryp, one pole of said testingbattery being connected with the ground at He is thus enabled to trace out the trouble and make the necessary repairs without interfering with other circuits or the signal apparatus at the central oifice. The annunciators q g g are placed in the normally-open circuits a b c, as shown. In case any circuit is accidentally grounded or crossed between the central station and a building, the annunciator drop or needle of said circuit will be thrown down or turned, thus indicating the circuit which needs repair. In such case the relay at the central station in the circuit will be closed and the register will be set in operation without giving a specific signal. The thermostats are preferably mercury-bulbs; any other well-known thermostat may be used. For clearness I here show metallic thermostats. The thermostats are set to operate at such a degree of tempera- ICG ture as may be suited to the surrounding conditions. Ordinarily they are set so that they will close the circuit when the temperature rises to 125 Fahrenheit. The closing of the circuit at one thermostat of the building sets the brake-wheel of the signal-box H in motion. The specific signal will thus be sent in and recorded upon the register, while at the same time the single-stroke bell included in the local circuit with the register will strike the number of the box. The particular room,

section, or floor of the building will be indicated on the annunciator G, and after the signal has been repeated, preferably twice, the brake-wheel will be arrested before it has quite completed a revolution, thus leaving the circuit open, as described in my application No. 95,62l,'filed May 21, 1883.

JOHN YOUNG.

Witnesses:

GEORGE P. BARTON, H. O. STILLWELL. 

